Set Fire to the Rain
by citystrokes
Summary: I'm bad at summarizing, but the ships have sailed. Post canon AU where the fams all have babies. Rated for language
1. Chapter 1

"'m not a kid!" The ten year-old stomped her foot. Zira Mustang was a nightmare to behold, at least to Cecil. To him, she was his own personal Hell. Her dark hair was messy from playing out in the yard, but she tucked it behind her ear anyways without straightening it. "I wanna see what you're doing!"

Cecil, meanwhile, had alchemy books strewn about. He had been researching, to his mother's slight irritation (but mostly it was just amusement disguised as such). His aunt and uncle had already begun teaching him alkahestry the year before and he had become absolutely enthralled.

His argument as to why Zira couldn't come into his room had been based around the idea that the subject was too mature for her.

"I'm the same age as Elliot!" She pouted, arms crossed.

Elliot was his cousin and he was a nightmare, too.

"Your point, Z?" He rolled his eyes, shutting the leather bound volume he'd borrowed from his father's study. Obviously he wasn't getting any reading done today. Lord save him, why was he in charge of the brat today? His sister was the one being paid to babysit, wasn't she?

"I want to learn." She dropped into a seated position, eyes hard. "Teach me."

"No." Simple enough response.

"I'll tell my mom." She countered stubbornly. He tried to keep a straight face, but failed after only a moment's passing. Laughter erupted deep in his chest at the little girl's determined expression. As if telling Riza Mustang that the brother of the babysitter she'd hired wasn't teaching her daughter alchemy was a problem. The woman would have his head on a silver platter if he dared to teach her.

"Go ahead." He taunted. He knew messing with a kid five years his junior was childish, but he didn't really care. "Your mom will be angry with you for wanting to learn."

She huffed and stood up again. Her angry footsteps stomped across his bedroom floor to his desk where she swiped a piece of paper and a pencil before she sat back down in front of him.

"I already know things." She told him. "Like this." She does four triangles in slightly different positions and his eyes widened in surprise when she crossed lines through two and added squiggles to a third. She hastily, in poor penmanship, wrote their meanings beside them. The four elements.

His Adam's apple bobbed nervously and was that sweat already forming on his brow?

 _I am in so much trouble if she pins this on me._

"And dad has this little _thing_ on the bottom of his glove." She continued, seemingly oblivious to her playmate's horror as she drew a tiny salamander. "But sometimes he has two extra legs, not when dad draws it, but sometimes."

"Oh." Was all that came out when he opened his mouth.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you going to teach me or not?" And suddenly she sounded five years older than him.

"I'm not a teacher." He choked.

"No…" She said thoughtfully with an expression wise beyond her years. "But I need someone to teach me and no adult is going to teach the President's daughter."

She wasn't wrong, at least.

"And what do I get in return?" He raised an eyebrow. If he was putting his life on the line, he'd better know why.

The ten-year-old grinned, hair falling messily back into her face.

"My friendship."

He laughed again, fell over in an appropriately playful manner when she shoved his shoulder in response.

"The saying is 'payback your debt in full, plus interest,' Zira." He shook his head. _Equivalent exchange, plus one._ "I don't think your solution measures up."

"You can keep charging interest until I pay you back, then." She opened the book he'd closed earlier and looked up at him with dark, pleading eyes. "Teach."

 **A/N -**

 **Hey folks! This is just a little ficlet of a bunch of little things. There are some OC's to note, obviously.**

 **Zira (originally it was Ziva, but I wound up changing it) Mae Mustang is the Royai baby.**

 **Elliot Elric is the baby of Al x Mei and lives in Xing.**

 **Cecil "C" Elric is EdWin's eldest**

 **Bronwen "Winnie" Elric is EdWin's youngest.**


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm older, so I'm going to marry her one day!" Winry watched, trying very hard not to giggle at the sight of her son and his cousin. They were arguing at the ages of ten and four over the girl that was playing with the family's puppy a few feet away, completely oblivious.

"She's five and I'm four!" As if that argument made all the sense in the world. Her nephew.

"Zira!" Cecil whined, running over to tap her on the shoulder.

"Zira! Who would you marry?" Rafael, looking just as much like his own father as Cecil looked like his, grinned.

"Oh…" Zira was the only of the three that wasn't blonde. She also, Winry noticed, tended not to play with anyone her own age. She tended to cling to Cecil when he was "adventuring" and she wondered if some of it had to do with her own, often restrictive life. "I don't want to marry you."

The boys looked a little heart broken but recovered and returned to their play.

"When did you become such the perfect housewife?" Ed startled her by pressing a kiss to her temple.

"When you fell asleep watching the kids." She smiled. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I disrupted your work. You can get back to it." He yawned and sat next to her. "When are they coming back to get her?"

"They said tomorrow. I've already made a bed for her in Wynnie's room."

Ed nodded. Their daughter was upstairs doing schoolwork, but she wouldn't mind sharing a room with their guest. Zira Mustang had been over more than a few times before and they'd gotten along.

"They're arguing over who is going to marry her." His wife gestured to the group of kids, now whispering amongst themselves. Zira had rejoined the boys for whatever mischief they were about to take part in.

"The day that girl marries is the day the world ends."

* * *

 **A/N -**

 **I'd like to shout out** **annymous for being the first review on this story! I'm so glad you liked it! 3**

 **I'd love to hear more from you all!**

 **:D**

 **~ citystrokes**


	3. Chapter 3

"As long as rules exist, someone will break them. That someone won't be you." Edward was leaned against his son's bedroom doorframe. The child was reading a book in his bed not-so-sneakily after he was supposed to be long asleep. The book, Ed quickly recognized, was from his own collection and had been on his shelf as of dinner. "When did you swipe that?"

Cecil blinked, still surprised to have been caught.

"I'm not angry." Ed sighed, pushing off the door and closing it behind him before walking closer to the bed and plucking the volume out of his son's hand. "I told you that you're welcome to anything I have." He inspected the cover carefully. It was canvas and etched with black ink with designs that more suited a romance novel than a dense book about transmutation of plant materials in his personal opinion. "Taking up fashion?"

"It's just interesting that you can make clothing out of grass." Cecil shrugged and his father had to laugh.

Cecil had always been interested in alchemy, even when he was young. Despite the fact that Winry wasn't in any way against it, she didn't want him growing up and getting into trouble. She had the right to worry, Ed recognized, given she'd grown up living with one boy who only had two human limbs and another that didn't have any sort of body. It was rational that she didn't want the same sort of potential overshadowing her own children's lives.

Ed had resigned to promising his eldest he'd teach him anything he wanted to know when he was older. Winry had already privately designated thirteen to be an acceptable age.

Cecil was only nine as of his birthday yesterday.

The workaround had naturally been that Ed wasn't _teaching_ his son anything and nor was the boy's uncle. Technically, Cecil was teaching himself and Ed was making sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Thus the mantra "that someone won't be you."

"She's going to find out one of these days if you don't go to bed on time." Ed scolded, taking the book out of his hands and placing it in the nightstand drawer, out of the immediate line of eyesight should his wife come into the room. "And then we'll both be in trouble."

Cecil sighed and leaned back against the wall behind his bed with a frown.

"Why so serious, small-fry?" Ed teased, earning him a raised eyebrow. He chuckled to himself.

"You keep telling me I'll hit a growth spurt, dad, but then you say things like that!" He whined. He'd already been self conscious for the past year that he was shorter and skinnier than most of his classmates and he wasn't even double-digits yet.

"You will." Ed rolled his eyes. "What's got you up so late reading?"

Cecil shrugged, but he also crossed his arms and looked at the floor. There was a lack of violent outburst, but the corner of Ed's mouth still quirked in amusement thinking of just how similar he and his son were.

"You can tell me, you know?"

"You're going to be mad." Cecil shrugged again.

"Will I?" Ed raised an eyebrow. "That's not much of a surprise is it? Your Uncle Al says I'm always angry."

Cecil looked up just long enough to grin at his father.

"Yeah, well." Was all he said before shrugging again. At least, Ed thought, the smile was still there. "I don't know. You travel a lot."

"Oh." It wasn't his best choice of response, but it had slipped out before he could think of anything better. It wasn't untrue, he traveled for work a lot. He wasn't an alchemist anymore technically-speaking, it was hard to be an alchemist if one couldn't actually perform alchemy. He still did research though, as did his brother. Sometimes they both traveled, though not so often together, and they'd meet up. Al was a teacher in Xing these days. Ed hadn't really settled into a stagnant job yet and Winry hadn't protested it. He always came home—

"Dad?" Cecil brought him back down to earth. "I didn't mean to make you angry."

"I'm not angry." Ed countered.

"Oh…you're crying."

Was he? Ed laughed.

"How often do you cry when you're _angry_ , Cecil?" He snorted, wiping at his eyes for a second before forcing a smile. "Because if you're getting that angry, we need to talk."

Cecil rolled his eyes and again Ed was reminded of himself. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"I do travel a lot." Ed agreed finally. "Would you like it if I stopped?" He wasn't sure how soon he could find something new. He'd probably have to uproot everyone, most major schools were in Central. Winry might not mind, now he thought about it, it'd make her infrequent work-related travel easier at the least. More trains to anywhere left from Central than from Resembool.

The kids would have to start over…and they'd need a new house, did they even have the money for that right now? Money was in no way excruciatingly tight, especially not with both of he and Winry working, but a house was an expense if there ever were one. If they sold this property, maybe they could swing it, but even he was a little hesitant to let such a big piece of who they were go.

"No." Cecil shook his head. "I don't want you to stop." He seemed to think for a minute. He bit his lip this time, but sometimes he would stick his tongue out. After what felt like forever—Ed was sure he had stopped breathing—Cecil looked at him again, directly in the eyes, with nothing but sheer determination on his face. "I want to come with you."

Ed blinked in surprise, that was absolutely not what he was expecting.

"You get to see cool places and do new things and find cool books and artifacts, dad!" He pleaded. "I want to go, too!"

And he laughed again, but this time it was so hard he did actually struggle to breathe. Ed wasn't sure if he was laughing from relief, knowing his son didn't hate him for traveling frequently enough to miss some important milestones or if it was because he should have expected this is where the conversation was headed. Cecil had a one-track mind and right now it was set on adventure. Ed couldn't say he blamed him, Resembool was as safe as neighborhoods came.

Cecil was also nine years old.

He was crying again, now from laughing much harder than was appropriate and Cecil looked moderately irritated.

"How about I make you a deal." Ed said once he'd finally regained his breath. "You finish this school year strong, there are only two weeks left, and I'll take you with me to visit your Aunt and Uncle in Xing."

Al and Mei normally travelled to Amestris when the families visited. Mei had fallen in love with her husband's home country one everything had been sorted out all those years ago. They also had the advantage of having only one child where Winry and Ed had two (and sometimes a third to babysit). Winry's work didn't allow for extended periods of time away from home and that didn't help them visit much either. The last time they'd gone, Cecil had been two and their daughter an actual infant.

Cecil seemed to think about his options carefully.

"Yes. That will work." Ed had to put actual effort in to keep from laughing again, the boy's answer had been so serious.

"Good." Ed nodded, ruffling his son's hair and standing up. "Should I tell your mom today or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow…when I'm at school please." Because he didn't want to get in trouble. Ed didn't bother to tell him that his mother probably wouldn't actually mind. As long as he wasn't missing school and he was supervised, she'd be fine with it. "And Bronwen can't come."

"To school or to Xing?" Ed played stupid.

"To Xing!"

"We'll have to figure out something she can do with us, then."


	4. Chapter 4

"You're actually scared?" Ed looked at the older man in surprise. "You're actually scared of being a father?"

"You weren't, Fullmetal?" Roy grumbled, playing with the glass in his hands.

"Well, a little. It's weird to think about, being a dad. You just kind of sit there and watch your wife do all the work for almost a year and she yells at you if you're not helping her the right way and sometimes because you're helping her at all—that was always confusing—and then there's the problem of cravings—"

"I hadn't even considered her hormones, thanks for adding another worry onto the list."

Ed patted his senior on the back with a grin and leaned back on the barstool as far as he could without falling. Roy Mustang was actually sweating and Ed couldn't say he totally blamed him. Winry was a nightmare in pregnancy, but at least he didn't have to worry about her shooting him.

"What is actually scary is how much they love you." Ed said finally, tired of watching the old man suffer. "I have done so much stupid shit since they were born, but it doesn't matter. Cecil still looks up to me like I'm a hero and Bronwen still wants to sit in my lap in front of the fire when I'm home. It's scary to think that I could mess that up, but it's scarier to think that I can't."

"Yeah…". _Scarier to think that you can't._


	5. Chapter 5

"Did you see that?" Dark hair flew at him before he had a chance to react. Cecil laughed, as uncomfortable as he was with the situation. He'd been tackled to the sand in a whirlwind of excitement.

 _"_ _Did you see, CC? Did you see?" She'd just transmuted her first rock into something shaped more like a car than a stone, but definitely still stone. "I did it!"_

 _"_ _Want to try again?" He asked and a ten-year-old Zira grinned back._

"Let's try again!" She pushed off the ground and got up again, not even bothering to brush the sand from her bared skin. Cecil sat up and watched her while detangling his hair and trying to shake sand out of it.

"Keep it close to the water, so we make sure we don't set a fire we can't control." He reminded, but he was smiling, too. They were going to be in so much trouble if they were found out.

"I can make glass!"

"That makes sense." He nodded and she picked something off of the ground a few meters in front of her and spun it around to show him. "Glass is heated sand, so it's logical."

"This is so cool." She murmured to herself.

"I mean, it's not really cool…it's not a party trick." He shrugged.

She frowned at him.

"The hell else am I supposed to do with it? Light people on _fire_? No!" She shook her head. "Fuck, no. Who do you think I am?"

"I don't know, Zira, you seem trigger happy." He taunted.

"You know what? You're right." She smiled at him. "How about I try it out on you?"

He laughed and finally stood up again. Looking around, he suddenly felt a pang of dread.

"Your detail—"

"Mom and Dad don't make me take one if I'm with you." She waved him off before taking her hair down and tucking the lighter in her pocket. "You always forget."

He really did always forget, but part of him also wondered if they were really just watching them from afar. Cecil wouldn't trust himself alone to protect the president's daughter should it come to that, he doubted anyone else would.

Though, the fact she could realistically handle herself soothed some nerves.

Maybe one day he'd get the nerve to ask them why that was, why he of all people was allowed to be alone with Zira and no guard.

"They trust you." Zira answered his unasked question. "I don't know why, but they think you're capable of defending me. But, you know I can take care of myself."

"I know, Zira."

They gathered their things, making sure there was absolutely no evidence of what had transpired. That, they knew, would be a nightmare. Riza, her mother, especially would notice if even just one thing was misplaced.

"Your hair is like…white at the ends." Zira commented, tugging on a lock as they walked towards home.

"Yes, the sun does that." He stepped out of her reach so she'd let go. Home wasn't far, her family was staying in Resembool after all—in his parents' own backyard, much to his father's irritation. "Are you done with stupid questions?"

"No, one more." She warned, but she had that sort of smile on her face that told Cecil she was either seriously calculating or completely daydreaming. "What if I could set fire to the rain?"

He snorted.

"Honestly, Zira Mae Mustang, if anyone could fucking set fire to rain, it'd be you."

 **A/N-**

 **Hey! Please rate, comment, subscribe, and all that! I love hearing from everyone and also I'd love to know if there are any little things you guys want to see!**


	6. Chapter 6

"You're kind of creepy." Elliot said suddenly, startling his cousin out of his daydream. Cecil looked taken aback. "You're staring at her."

Was he? He hadn't noticed.

"It's weird. I wouldn't date a twenty-two year-old." The younger informed. "Maybe when I was twenty I'd date in my twenties, but we're seventeen so it's weird."

That was the least of the problem here. Weird didn't account for illegal.

"I'm going to see her in Ishval next month." That was news to Cecil.

"You're going to Ishval?" He questioned.

"Yeah." Elliot shrugged. "I'm taking a gap year before I decide if I want to study or just take up a late apprenticeship."

Why had Cecil decided to pursue university? He had long since forgotten, but it had kept him in Central until this year. Four years of making up excuses as to why he couldn't come home just to cover the fact that he'd rather be getting lost in the North—not actually at any fault of his own—than coming home to Resembool. He looked his younger cousin over. University would suit Elliot, he thought, but he was very action oriented. Elliot wanted to help people.

"You should go for political science and fix the world." Cecil grumbled.

"I want to." Elliot nodded, turning his attention backwards towards the real grownups for a bit. "I'm only going to Ishval because there's a really great program there. You know, after everything years ago, there are still so many organizations focused on building it up and arts programs to invigorate the youth—"

"It sounds just like you." Cecil stopped him. He turned around and leaned against the table they were standing in front of. Elliot cast another look in Zira's direction before mimicking the movement.

"I don't think I've ever seen her in a dress before this." Elliot laughed. "Maybe when we were little?"

"She usually wears pants to state dinners." The elder cousin made a face.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Elliot got up.

"I'm going to go ask her to dance." He shot Cecil a grin.

"What? Why?!"

"She looks bored." Elliot glanced back over his shoulder at him. "And I'm bored too, listening to you mope about being a creepy old pervert is painful."

 **A/N -**

 **So this story is a little out of order, so I should probably be more conscious about putting their ages into it. The last chapter, she was eighteen or nineteen. This chapter, she's back to seventeen and it's just Cecil reflecting on their "friendship" of sorts.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Keep an eye on her." The aging man in front of him requested. It wasn't an order barked at him or even something accompanied by an irritated glare. "You're going to be the one physically closest to her. You watch her."

"President," Across the desk was a much younger man, early twenties probably at the latest. The president personally felt as if he were having flashbacks to what felt like a lifetime ago. "You can tail her with anyone you want. You can bar her from even entering the program—"

"I am asking you personally to keep an eye on her. Zira has enough of her mother in her that I can't stand in her way. If I ask anyone else to do it, she'll know. She'd never suspect you, Cecil." The older man's voice held a tone of finality. He was done arguing. Cecil's lips were pressed in a firm line. His president was aging, and he hadn't really noticed. Knowing someone your whole life, sometimes it slips your mind the changes. He would reckon his elder had a few good years left before retirement. His hair was less pepper now than it had been only a few years ago, it was far more salt. His eyes looked permanently tired, bags that made him look like he'd not slept in months.

Well, given the most recent turn of events he wouldn't actually be surprised if his president hadn't slept in months.

"Zira isn't really going through with this, is she?" His own voice sounded more nervous than he meant to let on. The president's daughter, Zira, was his own childhood friend. She was four years younger than his younger sister—probably. He also knew her determination first hand. If she really wanted to do something, she would. She was only nineteen, just five years younger than himself, and she was already setting her eyes on following relatively in her father's footsteps.

The sigh he received in response was all the confirmation he needed.

"I'm not part of the alchemy research program." Cecil reminded. "I can't help her."

For the most part, the regimes following events long before his own birth resulted in the shutting down of the State Alchemist Program in its traditional sense. Alchemists were still part of the military, and on a technical level State Alchemists still existed but their roles were split into two tracks—research and general military. It wasn't often you saw them overlap.

"And I won't join the military, Mr. President." He added as an afterthought.

"You don't have to." The older man seemed tired of the resistance. "I don't think she intends to go the military route."

That was news to Cecil. He'd just jumped to the conclusion. If Zira Mustang was following in either of her parents' footsteps she'd just go military or politics.

"Oh…" He stopped himself at the thought and blinked in confusion. "She's really trying to do it?" The President only gritted his teeth in irritation. Cecil tugged absentmindedly on a string of blonde hair that had fallen into his face.

Thinking back on only a year ago, he could see Zira's attraction to the program now. Where he himself got by on a name and an interest in the world of research and education, she was raised more in the limelight by two highly recognizable parents that were infamous in an entirely different way.

 _She was standing in front of him at a board with a piece of chalk in her hands. She'd scattered papers up all over and around her proposed transmutation circle. Scrap drawings and notes that were unhelpful to her mission lay strewn about the floor. Books laid open on the table Cecil sat at with his legs propped up._

 _He watched her face contort in irritation, deciding where to put the last touches on what she was looking at. It was probably only thirty minutes before she turned around to look at him, hands and part of her face dusted in white. Her eyes were watering, but the good kind of watering, and bright to match her pleased grin._

 _"_ _I did it." He couldn't help but smile too, even though he felt in the pit of his stomach that she had just rediscovered something that had been hidden for a reason._

 _"_ _Did you actually?" He raised an eyebrow. She nodded. "How do you propose you use it then?"_

 _"_ _For that, Elric, you'll have to steal something for me."_

 _He bit his tongue when he wanted to ask what he'd get in exchange. He had a feeling if he hadn't, she'd have punched him._

"Cecil," President Mustang frowned, "I can't stop her because she's already figured it out."

 _"_ _You shouldn't tell anyone." Cecil watched her experimentation. They'd taken this outside to a patch of sand near a river—seemed safest in his mind. It was only two days after her initial breakthrough and four years after she'd started her venture into alchemy. He knew her mother blamed him and his cousin for her interest, but he'd done nothing to provoke this. "I know for a fact there was a reason this isn't being researched."_

 _His statement implied_ there was a reason your father didn't teach you. _She ignored him and he shielded his eyes from a heat for a moment to look again the second it'd past and see a patch of glass between her and the water's edge. She grinned at him, that same look she'd had two days before. His heart skipped a beat, though he'd never really admit that._

 _Her nearly black hair was knotted on the back of her head, too neat and clean for the nitty-gritty person she was on the inside but it reflected her no-nonsense attitude quite well. There was dirt on her nose, though it might have been ash because he hadn't paid nearly enough attention to see what she'd been trying to do. It covered the pale freckles that he knew were there from too many encounters with her when she was angry and about to punch him. She wasn't wearing a shirt, not a real one. It was just a bra really, covered the necessities, and shorts paired with boots. She was all for foot protection, not so much protection of the soft, important parts._

 _She'd told him it was less fashion than comfort—she didn't want sand between her toes and she didn't want to overheat while experimenting._

 _"_ _Dad should have hidden his idea better." She countered his statement and picked at the gloves on her hand. It'd taken two days because she had been designing them, trying to figure out what would cause enough friction to make a spark and exactly how to keep it on her to catch. They'd tried a match day one and found disastrous consequences, though Zira also hadn't had time to perfect her skill yet._

 _"_ _You need to be careful that they don't find those." He warned as she tossed one to him. "I don't think my hand is going to fit and I'm not that interested in trying it." Taboo was a big thing in his family and he wasn't going to go trying out flame alchemy just because the daughter of the president and only living flame alchemist thought it was a game. "I can see the headlines now, 'Murderer President's Daughter Arrested for Treason Because of Boredom.'"_

 _"_ _Shut up, it'll be fine." She snatched the glove back and stuffed it in her pocked. "I'll turn around and say 'the son of the retired Fullmetal Alchemist knew I was researching this and actively helped.'"_

 _She had a point, he hadn't stopped her until now. He hadn't thought she'd actually do it._

The President had found out only a week or two later. Careless like she was, Zira had left the gloves in her coat pocket and he'd discovered them himself. In his own paranoia, he'd caught sight of familiar fabric and pulled them from her pocket assuming the worst. Turning them over, he realized he'd been mistaken. The fabric felt too familiar, but it must have been coincidence.

Coincidence was that he'd happened to have felt the pattern when he'd squeezed because Zira, clever as she was, had embroidered the transmutation circle into a small patch and glued it to the inside of the gloves. White on white on white didn't show up, especially while on the inside of the glove, but her father had still found out.

That said, Zira was bright but clumsy and Cecil would be surprised if she'd actually managed her new end goal.

"There is no way." Zira wanted to figure out how to essentially do two transmutations at once—in the end burning through water instead of boiling it. "That's scientifically impossible." She'd have to separate too many elements to continuously burn the water. It was a lot of multitasking.

"Flame alchemy? Yes," Oh…he was just on about that.

"She won't like me sticking around her." Cecil warned, knowing that he wasn't going to win this battle and even if he did his parents and his sister would be disappointed in him. "Zira and I haven't really talked since…a little after you found the gloves?" It was only an estimate.

 _"_ _C! C, get off of him!" He felt the younger girl shove into his shoulder with her own and he let go of the man in his arms. "What are you doing?"_

 _What was he doing? Cecil had forgotten, if he was being honest. This guy had just walked up and he'd said, fuck what had he said?_

 _"_ _He said disgusting things about you. Zira." Cecil grabbed her wrist before she'd successfully slapped him. "You're defending him?"_

 _"_ _I'm not defending him." She disagreed. "I can handle myself, dipshit. I don't need you jumping on people because of what they say about me. I'm defending myself. You have no right—"_

 _"_ _You wouldn't step in if someone said something about me?" He growled out._

 _"_ _Maybe, if you needed me to. I was right here, you didn't need to jump in, I heard him. Where do you think you're going?" The kid, Cecil would hazard a guess that the boy was probably closer to Zira's eighteen than he himself was, froze and turned his head. Zira was still looking into his own eyes but he broke the eye contact to follow her face down her neck, to her angled shoulder, to her hand._

 _Where had she gotten the gun?_

 _"_ _You don't say shit about me. Ever. You may be pretty but pretty is not worth slimy. Don't call me again."_

 _The kid ran and Cecil felt maybe even a hint of pride at it._

 _"_ _You're not getting off so easy, Elric." She spat, drawing his attention back to her when she tried to yank her wrist from his grip again. "You don't fight my battles for me."_

 _"_ _Who was he?"_

 _"_ _My boyfriend, you fucking asshole." He'd not paid any attention to where she'd holstered the gun but her left hand shoved at his chest. In surprise, he stumbled backwards a step and let go of her. Her boyfriend? She was dating that jerk? She was dating? "This had nothing to do with what he said. This has to do with the other night."_

 _So maybe Cecil had suspected they'd been dating. Catching the president's daughter climbing out her window from your spot in the presidential library would call for suspicions like that._

 _"_ _If you tell my father about this, I'll make it useful that your mother is an automail mechanic." She threatened lowly before spinning back around and headed in the relative direction of home._

 _"_ _I didn't tell him about your alchemy, Zira!" Cecil groaned, jogging to catch up with her. "I swear to you, I didn't tell him. I was the one who told you to keep it a secret."_

 _"_ _Oh?" She kept walking, not even giving him a second glance._

 _"_ _You're being irrational right now. I'm only even here because you snuck out of your bedroom window—"_

 _"_ _Don't blame this on me, shithead."_

 _"_ _And you claim I have a temper, princess?" His patience was wearing thing. "You're an ungrateful, whining, eighteen year-old daughter of a wealthy president who was lucky he managed to continue being reelected given his history. You can't handle not being allowed to research flame alchemy so you go behind your own mother's back—don't forget that you_ told _me_ _why your father was so dead set against teaching you. Your dad didn't like your sleazy, good-for-nothing boyfriend so you snuck out to see the scumbag without any security detail. You know what's been going on, why we've reissued a curfew for Central. You broke it alone to meet some fucker who just wants a-a-a," He couldn't bring himself to say it without feeling sick. "You think your hot shit for your capability? My own father outranked you by the time he was fifteen." He'd leave out the shitty life his father had growing up to prove his own point. "You want attention from daddy? Fucking listen to him for once in your perfect little life. My father was traveling all the damn time for the first decade of my life trying to help my own fucking uncle to research and half of it was to try and determine a way he could regain his own alchemy. My mother was caught up in her business. You know what's funny? It never even bothered me. Not once. Not until you started whining about staying with us on and off while your parents were away or how your dad wouldn't teach you alchemy. I wondered if my life was somehow shitty, too, because, Zira, I mostly taught myself, too. You think dad wanted to let me near it when he thought it nearly ruined his own life? Fuck, no. But there's nothing wrong with my life and there's nothing wrong with yours either. You're just—I don't understand why you blow up like this when people are just trying to help you!"_

 _He let her hit him this time, fully aware that he deserved it._

"So I've noticed." President Mustang snorted. "I heard from a third party that you did a number on her boyfriend at the time." There was a pause. "Thank you. I'd have done it myself, but it would look bad."

"'Five-Times Reelected President Punches Man.'" Cecil agreed tiredly. "Fine. If you want me to help her, I'll help her."

"I want you to keep an eye on her." Same thing. "She's a lot like I was…maybe a little less ambitious and a little more driven for the sake of pride."

"I've noticed." The younger man mumbled.

"Also, I think it's the opposite of my job to explain this to you, but it wasn't my attention she was trying to grab." The president sighed and leaned back in his chair. Cecil blinked in response, completely frozen and his senior cracked his facade. The corner of his lip twitched ever so slightly. "If Zira was interested in what I thought of her, she wouldn't have pursued her research to this point."

 _"_ _You're so fucking stupid, Cecil Elric." Those tears were angry tears, he was smart enough to know that. She was actually angry with him, he didn't think he'd ever seen her like this. Her hair was down and the wind whipping through the city streets blew it in every which direction. It reflected the streetlights, so it didn't match the shadows behind her. She was wearing more clothing than he was used to seeing her in the past few weeks, just a t-shirt and jeans. He wondered idly how she'd climbed from her second story window in jeans._

 _"_ _I'm not the one putting myself in immediate danger just stepping outside." He countered. "You're murderer bait right now, you're exactly his type."_

But of course, she would have known he was in the library that night. She knew exactly where he sat when he was there and that he'd see her room window out the left corner of his own window view where he'd sit. She'd made enough noise that he heard her, but not enough that guards caught on.

She'd staged her escape so he'd follow her.

"Dad, dinner is getting cold, oh—" The familiar voice reached his ears at the same time the doors swung open and Cecil was taken aback. "C." She greeted him cooly. "I didn't know we had company." Presumably to her father.

"I asked Cecil to be the one to help you with your research." The new partner in question thought he caught her eyes widening out of the corner of his own. "Assuming you are able to receive the funding you wish for."

"Why? He's not military."

"He's a talented alchemist." As if it were the most necessary thing for his new job.

He allowed himself to look at the girl only five years his junior for a split second. He couldn't see her freckles in the low light from this distance, or maybe she'd taken to makeup. Cecil knew his sister had been showing her some new makeup things recently, maybe she'd taken up an interest. Her hair was down, but the way it hung in loose ringlets made him suspect she'd had it pulled back in a bun earlier. She was in a dress suit still, it was a pretty shade of green that seemed to compliment her but he didn't know much about fashion anyways.

She also looked like she was about to combat her father and request someone else if she had to have a partner at all.

"Fine." She spun on her heel.

 **A/N -**

 **A little bit more insight into what is about to happen.**

 **Rate & comment and such!**


	8. Chapter 8

She was only just nineteen. Her father was on her tail, having figured out only recently what she was up to while left to her own devices. Riza watched her daughter from across the living room.

 _"_ _There can be no more flame alchemists."_

She should have guessed the next to pursue its secrets would be her own daughter. Zira was absolutely of the same blood as her father and grandfather. The thought made Riza shudder, not out of fear so much as concern for her daughter's future. When Roy had found out, though Riza had held her suspicions, he'd refused to address it—immediately at least. She knew he spent most of that night awake because she had, too. Only when he had finally fallen into fitful slumber had she crept out of bed and into the bathroom.

Riza knew just as well as Roy what sins they'd never atone for. Maybe when they'd found out about their unexpected pregnancy they had thought they'd been forgiven by the universe. Now, she had to wonder if this was their punishment for even entertaining the idea.

She hadn't realized the tears had fallen, not initially, but when she noticed she had splashed herself with cool water and patted her face dry.

Her husband was waiting outside with tired, red eyes.

"I'm sorry." His voice had cracked and shattered her own heart.

"If you're at fault, then so am I." She had smiled even though it hurt. It hurt to think their daughter had gone behind their backs because, at this point, she would have fathered Zira asked her father to teach her over her pursuing something so potentially dangerous on her own. She had already proven she either didn't want or didn't trust her father's help which likely meant she wouldn't take his imposed guidance well if Roy tried now. They were narrowed down to three options, they already knew that.

While she was growing up and Riza and Roy had needed to travel while on business to places that maybe weren't the safest for children, they had selfishly placed her in the care of the people they trusted most—one of those people was Edward Elric. They could have her study under him, but she was old to be an apprentice and she was unlikely to want to learn from someone who couldn't do much by way of alchemy himself anymore. She could go to Xing, but they'd both immediately scrapped the idea because the child of a foreign leader alone in a country wasn't a good idea—even under the watchful eyes of Alphonse and Mei. Armstrong was out before they'd even thought of him, so he wasn't even a serious consideration though he'd never know that.

Riza had hesitated at her husband's suggestion, but now watching Zira across from her writing on a piece of paper she started to reconsider. The downside to having her learn under someone so young was that he was just that, young. Cecil Elric was only barely five years older than her. He was a little less of a hothead than his father was, even during his teens, and a little more rule-abiding than Ed and Roy both. He was careful and calculating and Zira took him seriously, though Riza had her own suspicions regarding that.

"What are you writing?" She asked finally, tired of the silence.

"Cecil is in Youswell."

"You can call him?" Riza suggested and her daughter look mortified. She smiled and chuckled in response. "Bad idea?"

"I'm not speaking to him."

"So you aren't going to send the letter, then." Riza nodded. "Good idea. Why aren't you guys talking?" This was the first she'd heard of it.

"He punched my boyfriend." Riza choked on her tea in surprise and Zira only nodded before turning back to her paper. "Well, ex-boyfriend. C followed us out and heard us fighting. I guess he decided he needed to step in to save me or some shit." The teen rolled her eyes and sighed. "Stupid."

"I didn't know you guys had broken up." Riza commented, though she was happy to hear the relationship had fallen apart. He'd been…dumb to say the least.

"He was such a jerk. He thought it was my job to just sit there at let him, I don't even know. Go off on me for no reason and I was really tired of the fighting and making up." Zira twirled her pen. "Yeah…C heard us fighting. I can take care of myself, worst case it's not like I don't carry—"

"Where was your tail?"

"Well, I didn't have one." She admitted sheepishly and her mother raised an eyebrow. "Even if I did, I could still have handled myself. Dad won't let me out of his sight without something on me and I know alchemy—"

"That is not something you use as a weapon." Riza snapped suddenly, standing upright. Zira startled, eyes wide. "If you have to, it's self defense _only._ You use that to help people, that's a gift. That isn't—"

"Mom, it's not like I was suggesting I make a sword and run him through!" Zira protested. "I have to have a circle anyways. It's just a worst-case."

The room was quiet for a moment except for the crackling of the fire in the fireplace. Riza slowly sat back down, heart beating frantically though it was.

"C punched him before I even got a word in." She mumbled, eyeing her mother nervously now. "And I was just angry he stepped in like I needed his help."

Another moment of silence.

"Mom…" She turned her chair. "Cecil said…I'm sorry."

It was Riza's turn to be surprised.

"I'm sorry. I knew it upset you and it was childish and I should have talked to you and dad about it instead of going off on my own. I'm sorry I sneak out without my security detail and I don't know. I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground. "I know why you and dad are so worried about it all. I know why you don't want me in the military or even in politics. I know why you didn't want me looking into alchemy let alone flame alchemy and I know you both tried to keep what dad knew a secret. I guess I heard it mentioned somewhere when I was growing up and I researched it and I found out you were both lying to me."

There was plenty on Roy, Riza knew, it wouldn't have been difficult to find.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I asked Cecil to help me learn everything I could when I was younger. Dad keeps his books hidden away and you send people with me if ever one of you didn't accompany me to the library. Cecil had full-access and I made him help me and it was never his fault. I know dad thinks this was his fault, but I swear it wasn't. He always told me to tell you and talk to you and I didn't. It's my fault you and dad are upset and I'm sorry."

Riza patted the spot next to her on the couch and waited for the dark-haired girl to approach her and sit down. She wasn't sure, but she suspected her daughter was crying—her hair was in the way.

"Zira, we should have been more honest with you." She sighed. "I accept your apology, and I'm sure your father will, too. That doesn't mean I'm not still sorry. You didn't ask to be brought up at the head of a country that was still fighting to keep on its feet. We should have been more forthcoming and we shouldn't have stopped you entirely from pursuing interests. It was…maybe a little hypocritical of us."

Zira nodded, but kept her face hidden. She was definitely crying then, even though her shoulders didn't move.

"What did Cecil say that you two aren't talking?"

Zira cracked a small smile to herself through tears, her mother always got to the point.

"He said I was selfish and childish and that I only cared about myself and what I wanted…and then I punched him." Riza laughed out loud and Zira wiped her eyes to smile back. "But…he's kind of right. I've been really shitty."

"Only kind of right?" Riza raised an eyebrow and her daughter gave her an eyeroll.

"I do care about other people." Zira mumbled.

"I know." Riza took her cup off the table in front of them. "And, I think he probably knows, too."

"God, am I that obvious, mom?" Zira whined, following her mother as she made her way out the door and back down to the kitchen.

 **A/N - so we're about to get into the nitty gritty**

 **please review! I love to hear from you**


	9. Chapter 9

"Listen, I'm sorry." Cecil finally said, running his hand through his hair. He didn't regret staying for the dinner that was offered but he maybe felt a little stupid standing in the middle of the presidential library staring at the adult who had been designated his charge. "I can go tell them no now."

"It's fine." Zira shrugged. It wasn't, she was still irritated with him beyond belief…but she'd worked things out with her parents and now— "You're not supposed to be in Central for long."

"No, I wanted to head north." He agreed.

"Take me with you." She was nothing if not determined. He smirked. "It gives me a chance to test some things, maybe start fires with wet wood, and you're not even listening to me, asshole."

He was, he'd just caught sight of a box laying on the table full of papers and envelopes. It had distracted him for a minute, because he'd caught sight of his name. He picked at one of the envelopes and cocked his head to the side. They were letters, all addressed to him. Cecil looked up with a questioning gaze.

"I was going to write you." Zira mumbled, glaring at the ground so hard she could have burned holes through it. Cecil laughed. "But I didn't think you deserved an apology yet."

"Can I read them?"

"…They're mostly just me yelling at you." She admitted, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why? Did you want a love letter?"

His grin was suddenly too stiff and the smile in his eyes disappeared.

"Not the reason I wanted to read them, I wanted to see how creative your name-calling got this time."

Zira's feel finally detached themselves from the floor and she snatched the letter he'd picked up out of his hand with a growl. They weren't her best work, she'd chewed him out better before on multiple occasions.

"What's wrong, Sparky?"

"Don't fucking call me that, Elric." He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, as if taunting her to do something.

"I'll set you on fire—"

"You won't get a research grant that way, future Dr. Mustang." Cecil tucked a stray strand of black hair behind the younger girl's ear just to see them flush pink. The smirk reappeared on his face.

"I hope you know," She spun on her heel, picking up the box before she stomped straight to the door. "I don't need your protection."

The door slammed behind her and Cecil was alone in the library again.

"But I'll give it." Regardless of whether it was the President's idea or not.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **HEY GUYS! Whoooo! yay! Story time!**

 **So we're getting into the main story now which is fun!**

 **Please comment and fav and subscribe! I would love to hear from you! It really inspires me to keep updating.**

 **~ Citystrokes**


	10. Chapter 10

That's what landed them here, Cecil watching Zira hunched over her notes as usual, but now on a train en route to the west. Unusually, the books scattered amongst the train car weren't alchemy books.

They were history books.

 _"_ _Do you ever wonder what happened?" She asked him the library the night before they left. She was in a nightgown, her hair was down, and save for the fact she'd instinctively pulled a gun on him when he walked trough the large, oak, double doors, she was the most relaxed he'd ever seen her._

 _When she lifted her nose from the book in her hand, her eyes were full of concern._

 _"_ _Before we were born?"_

 _He couldn't say he had, but she was right now that he looked over the books with her. Something was missing._

"There was a full, state-funded project regarding filling in mines." She said, her brow furrywed, voice hushed. Had she not looked up at him, he'd have thought she was talking to herself.

Cecil wished he could offer her something intelligent. He knew of the project, it employed hundred of thousands of lay people as well as hobbyist and state alchemists alikee. There were whole mining villages brought out of slums from the project.

"Cecil, there were miens under Briggs." Zira emphaseized. "C, there's a no history of mining there before the project."

His eyes widened at the realization and she nodded.

They spend the rest of the train ride hurriedly marking up Cecil's map. The scenery flew by and transformed. Long, rolling countrysides sloped into forests and mountains broken up by rivers wide and narrow. The sun tucked itself behind the landscape at some point and train car lamps flickered to life.

Still, Cecil sat on the floor with pencil in hand, shoulders hunched as his eyes drew lines between the dots that Zira read off—locations of specific projects from different volumes.

"Zira," She was still flipping through pages, "Zira, stop— _stop_."

Cecil sat back best he could in the cramped space, hands shaking.

"Zira, this is a transmutation circle." His voice cracked. She stared down at the lines he'd connected, a rough circle because he hadn't known what he'd been looking at. Their eyes met.

There was no doubt of what laid on the map in front of them.

"I…don't recognize it." She whispered.

Their eyes met again.

 _This_ was something dangerous.

* * *

 **A/N find me on Tumblr letsbringmomback and share any ideas of what you'd like to see! there's a** **general storyline but there's room for one shots**


End file.
